Draft:Ismail Mohamed (South African Activist)

Ismail Jacobus Mohamed (27 July 1930 - 6 July 2013) was a South African Anti-Apartheid Activist, professor of mathematics, leader of the UDF, and member of the ANC. During the 1980s Mohamed served as Vice-President of the UDF Transvaal Region, and was arrested in 1985 along with Albertina Sisulu and other prominent leaders of the UDF. After the end of apartheid in 1994, he was elected to the National Assembly as a member of parliament, serving a total of three terms. Mohamed was also notable for his advances in the field of group theory. Along with Hermann Heineken, he solved a major outstanding problem in the field.

At his funeral then-President Jacob Zuma said of Mohamed "nature has robbed us of one of the finest revolutionaries our movement has seen thus far." In 2014 he was posthumously awarded the Order of Mapungubwe (Silver), South Africa's highest Honor, for his "excellent contribution to the field of Mathematics and political liberation," and for "his work in advocacy and profound leadership skills both politically and academically."

Early life
Ismail Jacobus Mohamed was born on July 27th, 1930, in Barkly East, Cape Province (now Eastern Cape). His mother, Rose Johanna Fortiuin, worked as a cook for white families, and his father, Ismael Mohamed, worked for a tyre company. By age five his parents had divorced, and his father had moved to Bloemfontein where he started a general store and lived until his death. After Mohamed's mother lost her job they moved to Aliwal North in search of work. By the time Mohamed was twelve, however, his mother had moved to Johannesburg for work, leaving him with his grandmother (her mother), Katrina. Approximately one year later, in 1944, Mohamed moved to Doornfontein to live with his mother.

In Doornfontein Mohamed and his mother attened the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa (NGK) regularly. Despite this Mohamed enrolled at St. Joseph's Catholic School. In fact, Mohamed was so likened by the nuns' teaching that he choose to be baptized as a Roman Catholic. Nonetheless, the main language of instruction at the school was english, which Mohamed was no proficient in. His difficulty with english caued him to fail numerous classes. Mohamed's struggles with school were further enhanced by a long five month bought with fever (later diagnosed as typhoid).

After recovering from the fever Mohamed enrolled at Eurafrican Training Center, a 3 mile walk from his families home in Radio Springs. He attended secondary school in Vrededorp and graduated in 1949 at the top of his class, developing a keen interest in math. While in secondary school he did domestic work to help supplant his mother's income. It was this experience as a impoverished child facing racial discrimination that helped shape his later resistance to apartheid.

In 1950, after matriculation, Mohamed began work as a painter and builders mate in order to earn money to attend university. In 1951 he enrolled at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, and graduated in 1953 with Bachelor of Science in mathematics and physics, and first class honors degree in mathematics in 1954.

Political Development
he continued working with the UDF and became more active.

Awards

 * Order of Mapungubwe (Silver), posthumous, 2014

Scholarships

 * Shell Postgraduate Bursary, 1954
 * Shell Postgraduate Scholarship, 1957
 * Australian National University Sponsorship to attend Second International Conference in Group Theory, Canberra, 1973

Honorary Degrees

 * Doctor of Science, University of Lesotho, 1985
 * Doctor of Laws, University of the Witwatersrand, 1996

External links section
SABC Coverage of the Funeral

President Jacob Zuma's Eulogy